Endoscopic esophageal foreign body removal among children at Lubaga Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy involves examination of the lining of the esophagus, stomach and part of the duodenum. Interventional endoscopy in addition to evaluating the upper gastrointestinal tract to make a diagnosis, also offers a treatment benefit. Traditionally, esophageal foreign bodies (FBs) in Uganda were removed using rigid endoscopy. We therefore report an emerging trend of using flexible endoscopy to remove these FBs. Objective: To describe participant characteristics and endoscopic findings among children who underwent esophageal FB removal in Lubaga Hospital in Kampala. Methods: This was a retrospective review of endoscopy reports for children who underwent endoscopic esophageal FB removal at Lubaga Hospital from December 2014 to March 2022. Results: Overall, 61 symptomatic children underwent this procedure. The majority of the FBs were removed by flexible endoscopy (n=55, 90.16%). The mean age of the participants was 7.88 (SD=2.12) years old. The majority of the children were females (72.13%) and coins were the most ingested FBs (84%), others included steel crucifix, nails etc. The upper esophageal sphincter was the commonest site for FB impaction (74%). Conclusion: We report high success rates of 90.16% for endoscopic removal of impacted esophageal foreign bodies among Ugandan children using the now widely available flexible endoscopy.

Perioperative care of obstructive sleep apnea patients: A survey of European anesthesiologists.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent in the surgical patient population and is associated with high risk of perioperative complications. There are limited guidelines and wide practice variations regarding the perioperative care of obese and OSA patients. This is a study of European anesthesiologists' clinical practice of perioperative care of OSA patients. METHODS: This survey evaluated United Kingdom anesthesiologists' clinical practice of the perioperative care of OSA patients. Outcomes and variables were compared between 4100 anesthesiologists of different clinical experience and hospital settings. RESULTS: Approximately 45% of respondents manage OSA patients rarely, 42% occasionally, and 13% regularly. Most respondents order OSA screening tests if patients have tonsillar hypertrophy, head/neck tumor, BMI >35, increased neck circumference, craniofacial anomaly, and right-sided electrocardiography (ECG) anomaly. Majority request preoperative polysomnography, ECG, overnight pulse oximetry, and arterial blood gas analysis. Majority recommend preoperative weight loss, optimisation, smoking cessation, reduction of substance use, and regular mask-CPAP use. Majority consider endoscopy, and ophthalmology as appropriate day case procedures, but not laparoscopy. Majority postpone elective airway, laparoscopic, laparotomy, and head/neck surgery; if patients are not optimized preoperatively. For major surgery, combined general + neuraxial anesthesia was ranked as 3rd option. For major limb surgery, neuraxial anesthesia without sedation was ranked as 1st option, nerve block without sedation was ranked 2nd, and general anesthesia + nerve block was ranked 3rd or 4th. At anesthesia emergence, majority ensure that patients have normal consciousness, respiration and neuromuscular function. Majority ensure postoperative oximetry, telemetry, and oxygen supplementation. CONCLUSION: This study highlights variations in anesthesiologists' perioperative care of OSA patients; even in developed countries with advanced medical training and standards. The study outcomes will improve perioperative care of OSA patients.

Association between CD4 T cell counts and the immune status among adult critically ill HIV-negative patients in intensive care units in Uganda.

Background: Cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) T cells play a central role in regulation of adaptive T cell-mediated immune responses. Low CD4 T cell counts are not routinely reported as a marker of immune deficiency among HIV-negative individuals, as is the norm among their HIV positive counterparts. Despite evidence of mortality rates as high as 40% among Ugandan critically ill HIV-negative patients, the use of CD4 T cell counts as a measure of the immune status has never been explored among this population. This study assessed the immune status of adult critically ill HIV-negative patients admitted to Ugandan intensive care units (ICUs) using CD4 T cell count as a surrogate marker. Methods: A multicentre prospective cohort was conducted between 1st August 2017 and 1st March 2018 at four Ugandan ICUs. A total of 130 critically ill HIV negative patients were consecutively enrolled into the study. Data on sociodemographics, clinical characteristics, critical illness scores, CD4 T cell counts were obtained at baseline and mortality at day 28. Results: The mean age of patients was 45± 18 years (mean±SD) and majority (60.8%) were male. After a 28-day follow up, 71 [54.6%, 95% CI (45.9-63.3)] were found to have CD4 counts less than 500 cells/mm³, which were not found to be significantly associated with mortality at day 28, OR (95%) 1 (0.4-2.4), p = 0.093. CD4 cell count receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) area was 0.5195, comparable to APACHE II ROC area 0.5426 for predicting 24-hour mortality. Conclusions: CD4 T cell counts were generally low among HIV-negative critically ill patients. Low CD4 T cells did not predict ICU mortality at day 28. CD4 T cell counts were not found to be inferior to APACHE II score in predicting 24 hour ICU mortality.